Vestas nearly doubles U.S. orders with one Nebraska deal

Vestas, a major player in the world wind industry, announced Thursday a 400-megawatt order in Nebraska, almost doubling its U.S. orders this year.

The order nearly trumps all other U.S. orders in 2015 combined, which totaled just 416 megawatts to dates.

The order was placed by BHE Renewables, LLC, an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, accord to a news release.

The order is for 200 turbines that produce 2 megawatts each of electricity for the Grand Prairie wind farm in Holt County, Neb.

"When completed, Grande Prairie will be the largest wind project in Nebraska and will have a major impact on Nebraska's economy and energy future," said Tom Budler, president of the wind division for BHE Reneables, in the release.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy's businesses own wind projects representing more than 4 gigawatts of wind across the West and Midwest, the release said.

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This is the first turbine supply contract between BHE Renewables and Vestas and it is Vestas' largest single-phase project in the U.S. to date, the release said.

"BHE Renewables is a major player in the U.S. wind sector. Their parent company is well known and respected for its long-term investments in fundamentally sound industries," said Chris Brown, Vestas' president of sales and service division in the U.S. and Canada, in the release. "We're extremely pleased that they have chosen our workhorse turbine, the V110-2.0, for Grand Prairie."

This is only the fourth U.S. order this year as most orders have come from the European and Asian markets. The other U.S. orders this year include a 78-megawatt order in Minnesota, a 40-megawatt order in Maine and a 298-megawatt order in Oklahoma.

Vestas' manufacturing plants in Colorado will likely build the turbines. The company has two blade factories and a nacelle factory in Weld County, and a tower factory in Pueblo. The turbines are expected to be delivered in mid-2016, with project completion by the end of the year, the release stated.